


Safe and Sound

by orphan_account, Thorium (orphan_account)



Series: In Another Life [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, F/M, High School, I'm not good @ tagging, M/M, Maybe some smut later on??, Such angst, idk - Freeform, is maybe gon make u cry, jeanmarco, much sad, sorry - Freeform, very fluff, yeah buddy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-09
Updated: 2014-08-09
Packaged: 2018-02-12 10:27:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2106237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account, https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Thorium
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marco meets Jean at a party during high school. They best fronds. Then some shit goes down.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Safe and Sound

**Author's Note:**

> Well, this is my first fic! I hope you guys like it. My updating will probably be kinda random and inconsistent. Sorry in advance.  
> 

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marco meets Jean.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a warning. Marco has some dark thoughts about existence.  
> __ ___ __  
> And tada, Trinh aka cinabell is heeere! Just joined ao3 for this collab fic with my frond Armin, or thorium. It's their debut multi-chap fic so we just hope for some support for this and future works!  
> (I'm just doing is editing for this, so Armin is doing all, or nearly all of the story and plot-line.)

 

“Marco. _Marco!_ Jesus Christ Marco, wake up!” _snap snap snap._ Someone was shaking me awake. "Broooo, maybe you should go home. You look pretty fuckin’ tired.” I winced, clamping my eyes shut as a bright blue light crossed my vision.

Cracking my lids open cautiously, I glared at Sasha. “Like you should be talking! You’re out here every night ‘til two, stuffing your face with anything you can get your hands on.” I squinted at her, “Wait, when did you start talking like Connie?” My roommate, Connie, was known across campus for his mind-in-the-gutter surfer talk. It didn’t seem right coming out of Sasha’s mouth.

Sasha blushed and spluttered a quiet “I-I don’t know. It just sort of, you know, happened.” She looked hurt. _Oh God._ I immediately felt sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at her like that. A headache was starting to develop, and all these flashing lights weren’t helping. I ran my hands through my hair, immediately regretting the action. Now my hair was sticking up messily, only adding to my irritation. I sighed and tried to fix my hair as best I could.

Rubbing at my temples, I murmured out an apology. “I’m sorry, Sasha. You’re right though, I should head home soon. Sorry for being so lame. I promise I’ll make it up to you someti-“

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Not so fast, my homosexual friend,” Sasha chuckled, “I have someone for you to meet! Don’t make it up to me, it’s fine. I’ve been hanging out with Connie anyway.” That explains it. Sasha had a huge crush on Connie, but he was too dense to see it. Same thing with Sasha. She was oblivious to the massive heart eyes Connie had for her. _I’ll get you guys together one of these days._

Sasha squealed with childish delight as she dragged me to a new room, my many freckles standing out against the deep blush that was surely painting my face. I took note of how tight Sasha’s grip was, deciding I wasn’t even going to try pulling away. It would probably injure me more than just going along with it.

“Sasha, I’m bi, not gay. I like girls, too. I would appreciate it if you could maybe refrain from calling me homosexual.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Sasha huffed. “Sorry, I’ll try and remember next time.” We eventually ended up in a practically empty room, the only occupants consisting of Connie, and what was obviously Connie’s new friend.

As soon as Connie caught sight of us, he waved, cutting off his conversation. Connie’s friend turned around and grimaced. I studied him quickly. On his head, a dark shaven undercut with a bleached mop on top. A small patch of unshaven hair had been forgotten behind his ears. Sharp cheekbones cut across his face at a slight angle and a narrow nose completed a horse-like face. He was scowling, brows wrinkled and eyes glaring at everything that moved, or didn’t. But for a second, the almond eyes widened at me before shrinking back to give me furrowed brows like a long time asshole giving a glare.

Taking a hand out of a pocket from his plain urban gear, he thrust it out at me in a greeting. “The name’s Jean Kirschtein.”

Jzhaan. French, maybe? Yes, French. He had a slight accent. English wasn’t his first language, or he learned two simultaneously while growing up. And Kirschtein was most definitely German. Not a native speaker, though. His pronunciation was a little off. He probably wasn’t of direct German descent. So…French and English? _Fascinating._ I put on my best smile and shook Jean’s hand. “Marco Bodt.”

* * *

 

“All right listen up, you little shits. The homework is due in three days. The whole packet.” A collective groan rose up from the class. Mr. Ackerman added under his breath, “And show your fucking work, idiots,” as his steel eyes scanned the room. My math teacher, Levi Ackerman liked to swear. They students didn’t care, so the principal, Mr. Pixis, didn’t find out. Mr. Ackerman was short, which would have been laughable if he didn’t look like he could kill you with his bare hands.

I sighed and looked up from my notes. Ackerman was a good teacher, I had to admit. The way he taught was amazing. People actually learned stuff when they entered his classroom, which is saying something. Good high school teachers were hard to come by, especially at Trost High School.

I gazed around the room while we waited for the bell to ring. I looked at all the posters tacked up on the walls, the same posters I’d been staring at the last three years. _Only one more year of high school_. That thought made my day.

My eyes strayed to the faces of my peers. I sat up straight, blinking hard. _Wait, isn’t he a sophomore? Why is he in a_ junior _math class?_ It was none other than Jean Kirschtein.

* * *

 

“Hey Marco, I was wondering if you wanna study or some shit? I’m kinda behind and I don’t really know any of these assholes. Not that you’re an asshole I- shit. Aw, fuck, that was stupid, wasn’t it?” I looked up at a flustered Jean, his hand rubbing the back of his neck furiously. His eyes kept flickering between the floor and me. His scowl was quite alarming.

I laughed, causing him to glare at me. “It’s fine, Jean! I’d love too, but uh, not at my place. It’s kinda hectic over there. I doubt we’d be able to get anything done with Connie and Sasha there.”

His head snapped up, eyes widening. “You have roommates?”

“Uh, yeah. I live in Maria, so I have three. Connie, you’ve met him, Eren Jaeger, and Armin Arlert. Sasha is Connie’s like, best friend, so they’re always together playing video games and eating all our food. Eren’s adoptive sister, Mikasa, is _way_ overprotective, so she’s over there a lot, too. She, Eren, and Armin are practically inseparable. So, yeah, there are always a lot of people over there,” I finished, looking at Jean apologetically.

“Oh. We can just go over to my place. I live at Sina, number 425,” He turned away, then stopped. “Can I get your number?” He grinned crookedly. We exchanged numbers and parted ways, me going to history with Mr. Smith, Jean going God knows where. I was oddly giddy. I can’t mess this up. Not again. I showed up to history with a smile on my face and a spring in my step.

* * *

 

To: Jean

**When should I come over?**

The response was immediate.

From: Jean

**Whnevr u wnt man I hve food**

Well that was helpful.

To: Jean

**I’ll be there in twenty minutes.**

I took off, carving little trails into the piles of fallen leaves. It wouldn’t take nearly twenty minutes to get to Sina from where I was, so I took my time. I walked through the park in the middle of campus, admiring the trees painted with the red, gold, and green leaves of autumn. Fall was my favorite time of year. It brought change, and with it beauty. I know it seemed silly, but I felt there was a moral to the story of the seasons. Change always came, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. It could bring beauty or a new era of life. I guess I liked fall so much because…well because it showed that no matter what you do, no matter what happens, life will keep going. It doesn’t matter if you mess up. Life will begin again, no matter what. You may lose all your leaves, you may be alone, but it will get better with time.

* * *

 These thoughts chased me all the way to Jean’s dorm, slowly turning dark.  _It doesn’t matter what you do. One day you’ll die. People may mourn, but they’ll get over you soon enough. You will be forgotten. You’ll just be one of the old, weathered headstones no one can read anymore. The world will go on without you; it won’t even skip a beat._ _You don’t matter._  I knocked, pushing the thoughts back. I could hear Jean stumbling and swearing.

“One seco-FUCK!” THUMP! A panting Jean opened the door, dressed in an old band shirt and torn jeans.

 I struggled to keep in my laughter. Jean growled at me, turning to the side to let me in. His dorm was relatively small, but every surface was covered in papers. Tacked up on the walls were band posters and random paintings. It was a basic high-schooler’s room, but only one bed was slept in. Was his roommate out?

“What was it that you wanted to study?” I inquired after setting my bag on the unused bed.

“Oh, yeah,” He picked up his textbook and flipped through the pages. “Um, I think I need help with this qudratic shit. We hadn’t started this yet at my old school.” He bit his lip as his eyes scanned the page. We started off with that, moving onto the homework soon after. We got through a page and a half before I spoke up.

“Where’s your roommate?”

“I don’t have one.”

I huffed out a quiet, “Lucky.”

He scowled; his signature expression. “No. Not lucky. It’s always so lonely and quiet. There aren’t very many people on this floor. They’re all loners anyway.” His face fell as he recounted this. Crap.

I cleared my throat, causing Jean to give me a dirty look. “Hey, you wanna watch a movie or something? We’ve already finished half the packet and unless you need help with something else…” I trailed off, hoping this little distraction worked.

It did. He let me pick out a movie. Little did he know, I picked out the scariest movie he had: The Exorcism of Emily Rose.

“Fuck no. I am not watching that. Pick some other shit, but not that.”

“Awww, but you said you would watch whatever I picked out.” I gave him the puppy dog eyes and a big pout.

“Oh my god, you dick. Fine, just stop fucking looking at me like that. Whatever. Just play it already, get it the fuck over with.” I squealed and practically jumped onto his bed, the only place we would be able to see his TV. “You asshole,” Jean muttered under his breath, glowering harder than I’d ever seen.

“Are you scared?” I teased. He practically pushed me onto the floor as I laughed my ass off. As I caught my breath, I caught Jean smiling out of the corner of my eye. Good. The previews passed. When I pressed play, Jean grabbed a pillow and hugged it against his chest.

He caught me staring. “What? A man can’t have comfort?”

“Jean, you’re like, fifteen.”

“So?”

I shook my head, a smile ghosting my lips.

At the beginning of the movie, we had considerable distance between us. I had a feeling that would change soon.

“FUCK MY ENTIRE LIFE! SHIT ISN’T SUPPOSED TO MOVE ON ITS FUCKING OWN! YOU DICK! WHY ARE YOU MAKING ME WATCH THIS?”

I laughed. I laughed so hard I was crying. I swear I died for a second there. Jean Kirschtein, asshole extraordinaire, was freaked out over a scary movie. Well, this was hilarious.

“You had a chance to turn back, but I remember you saying something along the lines of, ‘I can do this, I’m a man. Some shitty movie isn’t gonna scare me.’” My heart was _pounding_ , but I wasn’t about to admit it.

“Fuck you, Marco.”

It continued this way for most of the movie, the space between us slowly shrinking. I jumped a couple of times, causing Jean to reciprocate the teasing. The courtroom scenes brought incessant sarcastic remarks from Jean and me laughing at his corny jokes. Those scenes were the lull before the storm, for when Emily was being exorcised was when Jean closed the gap between us entirely.

“SON OF A BITCH! THAT AIN’T NATURAL. DO YOU HEAR THE SHIT COMING OUT OF HER MOUTH? ” He was clinging to me, fingers digging into my arm painfully. I tried to pry him off, and failed miserably.  _Note to self: Watching scary movies with Jean is both painful and hilarious._

“Wow, not even a no homo?” I grinned, he glared.

“Fuck you and your no homo! This is your fault, you fuckin’ asshole!”

“Do you want me to turn it off, Jean?” I cooed, “Are you too scared?” All I got was a glare in return, which caused me to double over laughing. When the doctor died, Jean erupted in complaints, me agreeing with him on some points.

By the time the movie ended, I was also clinging onto Jean. I looked outside and practically panicked. It was pitch black. Jean followed my gaze.

“You can stay here if you want. I won’t judge.”

“No, it’s fine. I can walk home.”

“Then you better fucking run.”

* * *

 I, thankfully, got to Maria without getting possessed. I shut the door behind me, sliding down it until I was sitting on the floor. That was the happiest I had been in a long time. I didn’t feel empty and alone when I was with Jean. I was already starting to feel hollow again.

I sighed and got up, slinging my backpack onto the couch and heading to the room I shared with Connie. I fell asleep to the dark thoughts swimming in my mind again, striking me with their painful truth.  _You don’t matter, Marco. You never will._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idk if I should even continue this. You guys are probably like "WTF THIS TWAT DOIN? DA WHOLE PLOT DONE BEEN CHANGED ON US. DIS BITCH DONT EVEN KNO HOW TO WRITE. FUCK THIS SHIT, IM OUT" so yeah sorry about that. Idk when the next update will be. Until next time, amigos~

**Author's Note:**

> Until next time amigos~


End file.
